Louisiana braces for Harvey´s wrath 12 years after Katrina

South-west Louisiana is on a knife-edge as Tropical Storm Harvey threatens to inundate the region with potentially disastrous flooding 12 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the state.

Damage so far is nothing compared with the toll in Texas, but a heavy band of rainfall proved too much for some Lake Charles neighbourhoods, pushing water into houses that local residents said they had never seen flood.

Hurricane Harvey's likely path

Across the state in New Orleans, a large cluster of heavy rain was moving in from the Gulf of Mexico, seeming to take aim at the Crescent City.

Residents came out in National Guard trucks and wildlife agents’ boats, carrying belongings in suitcases, rubbish bags and soggy cardboard boxes.

Members of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Houston Fire Department rescue stranded residents (Gerald Herbert/AP)

Rescuers focused at first on people with medical problems or were frail, but eventually offered to take everyone who wanted out. Most people went to homes of friends and relatives.

Officials fear more rain is on the way.

“We just can’t take any more,” Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said, urging residents to leave flood-prone homes. “Anything we get is going to be crucial at this point.”

Much of the region got a break on Monday afternoon after an earlier dousing, with a few hints of sunshine. Water drained out of streets into ditches and low areas, but manhole covers in central Lake Charles were bubbling, and officials remained worried that storm surge and high tides could slow drainage across the flat plain of south-western Louisiana.

“Storm surge is going to be a factor,” said Andy Patrick, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Lake Charles. “The water is going to be there and it’s going to be hard to drain out.”

Although Louisiana does not appear to be facing a threat on par with Harvey’s catastrophic toll in Texas, images of flood devastation in Houston revived painful memories for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in the Gulf Coast on August 29 2005.

New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu said a recently repaired pump failed on Monday during Harvey’s heavy rains. He added that most pumps are working, and the city is continuing with efforts to improve the pumping system.

Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards told reporters he expects the threat to rise as outer rain bands sweep into Louisiana, adding: “This is going to play out over several days.”

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for all of south-east Louisiana, south-west Mississippi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast through to Thursday. Forecasters say up to 8in of rain is possible.

Forecasters also warned of isolated tornadoes in Louisiana, especially in areas near the coast.